COUNCIL PANEL SNUBS POTHOLE PLAN

A proposal by San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio to place a street repair initiative on the November ballot stalled Wednesday as a committee of his council peers voted 5-0 against sending it to the full council.

DeMaio, a Republican, proposed the ballot measure 12 days before the June 5 mayoral primary in which he finished first ahead of Democratic Rep. Bob Filner. The two will compete in a November runoff.

The proposed “Road Repair Initiative” calls for the city to allocate all surplus revenue in its operating budget for the next five years toward a “lock box” fund to repair and maintain roads, storm drains and other infrastructure.

The city has an $898 million backlog of such fixes, and DeMaio estimates the lock box would raise more than $480 million based on budget forecasts.

DeMaio’s council colleagues said his measure would tie the hands of elected officials who would have to prioritize future spending needs.

“You try to preserve the discretion of the council — that’s what we’re paid to do,” said Councilman Todd Gloria.

Councilwoman Marti Emerald questioned why the city would spend money to help DeMaio’s mayoral ambitions.

“All of these requests for studies and legal analyses is a request to invest public resources into a private political campaign,” she said. “I think that it is inappropriate to spend tax dollars to help with a private political campaign.”

Emerald and Gloria have both endorsed Filner for mayor.

DeMaio declined to address the criticism of political motivations, and pointed to his record for promoting reform. He said he expected the council to reject the initiative, and he plans to gather signatures to get it on the 2014 ballot if the incoming council doesn’t act.

“I will present a revised budget within the first week of taking office and present an early budget for next year,” he said. “The council can choose to support that budget, and if they won’t fully fund infrastructure, I would utilize the initiative process.”

A new nine-member council, which will take office in December along with the next mayor, is currently split 4-4 between Democrats and Republicans following the June 5 primary results, with one seat remaining up for grabs. That race pits Democratic incumbent Sherri Lightner against Republican businessman Ray Ellis for majority control of the legislative body.

DeMaio, who has endorsed Ellis, is hoping to take office with a Republican majority.

Filner spoke out against DeMaio’s plan at the committee hearing.

“Of course we all are going to support fixing potholes, but to put potholes above everything else?” Filner said. “We’re going to replace potholes for police? That’s a startling vision for the future of our city.”

The city approved $75 million for infrastructure for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and is expected to ramp up its spending over the next few years as the city’s financial outlook brightens. The budget also includes spending increases to hire more police officers and firefighters as well as expand operating hours at libraries and recreation centers.

Jeff Sturak, with the city’s Office of the Independent Budget Analyst, said it would have been difficult to approve those expenditures if DeMaio’s initiative was in place.

DeMaio said he’s willing to consider assigning a fixed percentage of future revenue increases to infrastructure rather than using all of the additional funds, but he hasn’t determined what that percentage would be.

Council members Kevin Faulconer and Lorie Zapf, who both endorsed DeMaio for mayor on Monday, said they’re supportive of his approach, but they wanted to look at the pros and cons of different percentages being allocated to the infrastructure lock box before putting the measure on the ballot. A committee vote to have it reviewed by the independent budget analyst failed 2-3.

“We need to be very clear about what the options are to find out the upsides, but look at the downsides of those funding opportunities,” Faulconer said.